If anecdotal comments are reflected in submitted evaluations, the nearly 1,000 participants in last month’s KSBA annual conference felt pretty positive about their experiences.
While school board member and superintendent training hours are being tabulated – and before attention shifts to tabulating the formal assessments and planning future conferences – here’s a brief review of some of the highlights:
· Congratulations to our conference honorees: Dr. Henry Webb of Floyd County, F. L. Dupree Outstanding Superintendent Award; Bob Hutchison of the Johnson County Board of Education, Warren Proudfoot Outstanding Superintendent Award; Plum Creek Christian Church in Pendleton County, KSBA Friend of Education Award; and Bracken County High Senior Shannon Smith and Ludlow Independent High School Senior Collin MacKay, recipients of the KSBA First Degree College Scholarship Awards.
· Members elected four local board members to new terms as directors-at-large on the KSBA Board of Directors during the association’s annual business meeting. They are Larry Dodson of Oldham County, Dianne Mackey of Daviess County, Ramona Malone of Newport Independent and James See of Lawrence County.
· Commissioner of Education Stephen L. Pruitt recognized 111 local boards and superintendents whose districts had achieved their Commonwealth Commitment goals of high school graduates’ college and career readiness last year. Dr. Pruitt also used the conference to announce a series of regional town hall meetings to discuss measures of academic progress in Kentucky and development of a new school assessment system. Board members are encouraged to read more about the upcoming meetings here.
· New features for the KSBA conference drew positive comments all around – the conference mobile app; the wireless Internet access through meeting areas; the Friday box lunch options; and the optional Sunday morning clinics after the closing brunch.
A comprehensive look at all general sessions of the conference, keynote speeches and several of the concurrent clinic sessions is provided in this month’s edition of the KSBA magazine, the Kentucky School Advocate. To provide a quick turnaround of coverage, the March magazine is available online only. Read the stories and see the photos here.